Greenstone Mayor Renald Beaulieu says the time for talk has past.
Beaulieu, in Thunder Bay for a presentation on economic development success in Northern Quebec and how it might transfer to Ontario, on Wednesday said endless consultation has really gotten the province nowhere.
Anxious to learn whether or not his community will see direct benefits from a planned ferrochrome processing facility tied to the lucrative Ring of Fire development, Beaulieu said it’s time for action now.
“It’s real jobs that we want to see, so I think the province will have to step up to the plate on this development,” said Beaulieu, referring specifically to the FPF that seems destined for the Sudbury area, based on the company labeling the Nickel City as its base case scenario.
“I think that missing link is there right now. I find we need more involvement from the province in our area, for example, with the electricity piece. That’s so important. Greenstone has put the Greenstone plan in place and we’ve got a lot of support behind it, but we’re not hearing much.”
A pair of Quebec-based consultants, however, have suggested what’s needed is more talk.
It’s worked in Quebec, said Yvan Loubier, a senior consultant for National Public Relations in Quebec City, who has worked with both governments and communities in Northern Quebec to help facilitate a 25-year plan for economic salvation in an area hard hit by many of the same concerns afflicting Northern Ontario, particularly First Nations communities.
It didn’t come easily, at least not at first.
“More than 450 people discussed together for more than one year, with 60 meetings. At the beginning it was very hard. Some people put it on the table that they had their rights and they had their vision and ‘this is not mine,’” Loubier said.
“But after one year of discussion we reached a very interesting consensus. And this consensus proved to build the measure for the next 25 years.”
The $80-billion plan, which is expected to create or consolidate up to 20,000 jobs a year in Quebec, notes the area hosts large tracts of commercial forests, more than 75 per cent of the province’s installed hydroelectric power generation and the majority of Quebec’s vast mineral resources.
Much like Ontario’s Far North, it is sparsely populated, with 120,000 people, including 33,000 Aboriginals, living in 63 communities. Population numbers are on the decline, the report states.
Partners who put the plan together were drawn from just about every industry and sector imaginable, from forestry and mining to First Nation concerns.
Catherine Cano, the managing partner for National Public Relations, said they came to Thunder Bay, to see if the basis of the plan can be transferred to Ontario’s North to push development here.
Cano said the major issues that need to be addressed include communication and consultation.
“Every community here has a story, has an understanding of what’s important to you here, in terms of what matters with development and the way you would like it to proceed, the impact it has on people, on jobs, social and economic development,” Cano said. “Those things are very important to have everybody around the table talking about it and figuring out solutions.”
Consulation, or a lack thereof according to several First Nations communities in Ontario’s North, has been at the root of much of the protest emanating from Northern reserves over the past couple of years.
Last year Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations staged a blockade of a Ring of Fire airstrip.
Matawa chiefs have joined forces to force mining companies and governments to listen. And four years ago the chief and five councillors from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation were sent to prison for several months for refusing to allow a junior mining company to explore on their traditional lands.
But while he is calling for immediate action on some fronts, Beaulieu did say there is still time for consultation in many areas, especially when it comes to future development of the region and traditional First Nation lands.
The province and big business have to be willing give and take, Beaulieu said.
“I don’t want to lose (sight of) the fact that our First Nations deserve to get a lot of the services that are in the area. And that’s a missing link too,” he said, adding finding an energy solution for the remote communities has been talked about for decades.
“I was mayor in Longlac from 1982 to 1994, and I call tell you being mayor of Greenstone, 25 to 30 years later, the electricity piece is still a problem. What are we waiting for? Let’s get something if we want to help Northwestern Ontario.”
The one-day conference was co-sponsored by the Northwestern Ontario Joint Task Force on Regional Economic Development pilot project, the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.
JTF chairman Iain Angus agreed that plenty of plans have been put in place, but before implementation goes any further, it can’t hurt to look at a neighbouring jurisdiction for guidance.
It’s about seeing what worked and what didn’t, he said.
“Is Plan Nord going to attract investment that otherwise might come here, or are there things we could learn around what they’ve done and apply them to our pilot projects,” Angus said. “That’s the crucial part of this session today.”
Angus said Northern Ontario is still in the planning process, and haven’t turned to Queen’s Park or the private sector with a cost just yet.
“That will come in time,” he said.
